Later With Jools Holland: Simply Mick, Patti Smith, Joe Cocker

Interesting. Knew Mick from early City Life Co-op days (say 1983-85) and before from down the pub when he was an art student at the Poly (my bro Mike did some of that too at the same time) and later the overpaid DJ on Wednesdays.

Then hopefully the editorial and paste up team would get down to the Mandela Building for Mick's (and later Andy and Lou's) Black Rhythms disco. After putting the mag to bed. Often exhausted. We'd always insist that "Ain't No Stopping Us Now" made it to the turntables.

Later I outed him as the "next big thing" on our pop pages, we co-promoted his last unsigned gig in Manchester, still later I interviewed him in the Clynes Wine Bar (now Cavendish) where we had both hustled pool for years, published then with R-E-D drop capitals and again as one of the selected items for the 500th or some other anniversary, and despite a few strange fall outs the Distant Cousins opened for them, playing to 200,000 people on their 89-90 UK Arena Tour.

Tonight I just missed the start of Mick's first track ... He had an acoustic guitar as a prop. I don't much like the words, though Gota's guitar solo is something to behold. Second track perhaps better. But what do I know?

Cocker is back after a ten-year break - did you realise Later is more than ten years old? - and he and Patti are looking fresh and well in themselves.